Review: THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO at Goodman Theatre

THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO is a lopsided stage adaptation of Junot Díaz’s 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. While the first act is tight and focuses squarely on the budding relationship between ultra-nerd Oscar Wao and his freshman year college roommate Yunior, the second act incorporates almost all the other key plot points from Díaz’s text. As a result, the first half is a charming and sweet “bromance,” but the second half of this English language premiere (the production was originally produced in Spanish at Repertorio NYC) is sprawling, overlong, and not that engaging. There’s simply no reason this adaptation needed to be almost three hours.

Directed by Wendy Mateo here at the Goodman, Marco Antonio Rodriguez’s adaptation is overall a much sunnier version of Oscar’s story. While Yunior narrated Díaz’s novel after coming out of prison, here the narration shifts to Oscar’s nerdy and naive POV. Oscar heads to college with a fervent desire to lift his family curse — Fukú — and fears he’ll die a virgin. Based on the fact that he immediately wants to know if his roommate speaks Elvish and is keen to explore his comic book collection, perhaps he’s not wrong to have that fear. But Yunior soon takes Oscar under his wing and tries to teach him how to flirt. When Oscar becomes infatuated with goth girl Jenni, however, his mega-crush leads to disastrous results.

The second act of the show finds Oscar, Yunior, and his sister, Lola headed back to their homeland in the Dominican Republic to visit their grandmother, La Inca. Because history seems doomed to repeat itself, Oscar quickly falls for local sex worker Ybón...which leads to more disasters.

That said, I liked some of the sweeter tonal shifts in the stage play compared to the novel. While Oscar and Yunior have a more detached, cold relationship in the book — Yunior regards Oscar as a foreign being rather than a sweet, lost guy — Rodriguez’s decision to shift that dynamic to a true friendship works well. The characters are on the whole more innocent and less troubled than in the novel — and perhaps that’s partly because the narration moved from Yunior to Oscar himself. And like the novel itself, the play pays beautiful homage to both Dominican culture and the Spanish language. I loved how the play retains the novel’s signature use of “Spanglish.”

The production is impeccably cast, and all of the performers are delightful. Lenin Izquierdo is pitch perfect as Oscar. You simultaneously want to give him a hug and also ask how he could possibly be so clueless. Izquierdo is so charming and his physicality is terrific — just watch as his Oscar tries to mimic Yunior’s suave moves during their flirting lessons. Kelvin Grullon is equally affable as Yunior; he plays the role with confidence but lets audiences see the caring man underneath. Grullon also has lovely chemistry with Julissa Calderon, who plays Oscar’s sister, Lola. Yohanna Florentino plays Oscar’s mother Beli with deliberate and enjoyable exasperation. Rossmery Almonte is lively and daffy as La Inca, talking a mile a minute and constantly spraying her grandchildren with holy water. Jalbelly Guzmán portrays Oscar’s various love interests, and she’s wonderful at transforming between the introverted goth Jenni and the lively Ybón. Arik Vega rounds out the cast in a few different roles that allow him to show off his comedic chops.

While the cast is winsome and these performances are nicely realized, they ultimately don’t make up for the fact that the play is too long and scattered.

THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO plays the Owen Theatre at Goodman Theatre, 170 North Dearborn, through April 12, 2026. Tickets are $34-$94.